changes in your skin, you're probably looking
at your skincare routine, but have you considered
what's on your plate? Today we're exploring the
connection between nutrition and skin health.
Working about key nutrients, foods to avoid,
and tips to help you. I'm Doreen, content and
brand strategist and former esthetician. I'm
Suzanne, Sudesco certified esthetician with over
30 years, former spa owner and now educator mentor
to business pros. There's more and more people
finding that their skin's changing and they don't
know what they've done different. They're looking
at their regime. It's the same. It hasn't changed.
So what else is going on? So a lot of times not
saying that you have to become a nutritionist,
dietitian, but just understanding a bit more
about it I think would help if you're trying
to help yourself as an SD or maybe your clients
as well. What's going on with this? This is just
in general information, right? When you look
at what's going to achieve healthy glowing skin
and you're doing everything right from what you
see, the right products, the right steps. You're
not overdoing it. You're getting treatments,
you're resting, you're sleeping. You think you're
doing everything, but sometimes we forget that
nutrition side and the unfortunate events that
happen with it when we choose the wrong things.
It's two part like as the beauty professional,
the esthetician listening or watching, it can
be something that you look out for your yourself.
We did just do an episode about, you know, the
struggles that a lot of estheticians have with
their own skin. And it's a lot of big reason
why we get into the industry. Also look effective
of guiding your clients. But, you know, as we
are going to say to you, we are not nutritionists
and we're not giving nutritional advice and neither
do you. But it's something that you can point
out that they can look for themselves. Like there's
times where you know I've seen clients and you
know they tell me it's like oh my god I don't
know why I feel so dry this week and it's okay
so you're following the regime that we discussed
we're going through all of that everything looks
good coming in for her facial again um then I
asked them so tell me about your weekend what
did you do and like oh we went camping we hiked
a lot we spent a lot of time in the sun or Went
skiing and all the colds right the drive. I said,
okay, so how was your water intake over the weekend?
You know, it's you have to dive into it a little
bit Because they're looking for answers from
you because you're the person guiding them in
their treatments and skincare Right, or maybe
they're getting I don't know their pedicure is
done and they're talking about their skin to
you. Like it could be the different service,
but when you look at nutrition itself, it's just
essential overall health, but the skin is hugely
impacted by the choices that we make as well.
And I think we don't have enough information,
we rely on what the food industry is telling
us, and they're not there for our, well, not
all of them. A lot of them are not there for
our interest, our best interest. They're looking
at for convenience sake, quick, cheap, ready
to go. You know what I mean? Like they're not
there to tell you, oh no, don't buy that package.
You should really buy all your vegetables and
cut them, wash them, cut them and prepare them
yourself. They're not going to be offering that
type. Not saying that's what you need to do,
but that's just an example. So I am a holistic
nutritionist, not a dietitian, they're very different,
but I look at nutrition because I got into it
because overall health and it would help me,
but it also helped my family, it helped my clients
to understand a little bit more. And these are
just general tips and you can find this all online.
It's not just my information here. Like one of
the things if we look at it, being the largest
organ, It has specific needs nutritionally for
it to repair itself as well. We can't just keep
scrubbing the skin and hope that it does well,
right? Like there's more to it than just that.
There's a big puzzle to this, if you wish, and
everyone's gonna be different because you have
genetics, you have everything else. But basically,
big one is we wanna boost collagen. So because
we know collagen production is going to make
us look younger or help slow down the aging process,
that pro -aging side of things. So how does that
correlate into nutrition? Doesn't mean you have
to start taking collagen or do like maybe you
want to talk to someone about that first, but
just giving that idea. The other simple thing
is hydration. When our bodies have enough hydration
in our system, then it's not going to take away
from the skin because our lungs need it, our
digestive tract needs it, like there's so much
more. There is a reason why if you took a full
aesthetics program, why they went through the
whole human system. it's there's a there's a
purpose behind that all right but the big one
is the hydration and that's one of the first
things that we talk about but maybe that maybe
you've said it to your client but you never really
explained why well you know you should drink
more water but why should you drink more you
know so let them know maybe that's the specific
because i hear i hear estes out there saying
oh yeah you should drink more water you know
well what does that mean right how much water
why do i need it that type of thing and i always
said Every cup of coffee you have or any kind
of caffeinated drink, you should be having two
glasses of water for that one that you have.
So it's helping them understand how dehydrating
some things are that we're drinking and then
not having enough of it, right? The other thing
is inflammation. We've been hearing about inflammation
in our bodies a lot. And so what does that look
like? Well, when we're inflamed, that's going
to be a whole snowball effect with our bodies.
And of course it's going to eventually affect
the skin, right? And then we look at like cell
rejuvenation, these are all about skin, right?
When you hear all this, we know this is all impacting
the skin, either all of it is or some of it is.
And we want smoother, radiant, younger looking
skin without having to do other alternatives,
if I can put it that way. Right? So what can
you do as simple as looking from the inside out
is really what this is about. You know what?
You are what you eat. That old saying, you are
what you eat. Yeah. It's true. So you can do
all of the treatments you want, all the professional
treatments, you can all the products, buy all
the products, but if they don't have that healthy
lifestyle and nutrition point, they're going
to blame you. I've spent all my money. but maybe
you should say have you considered looking and
talking to a dietitian about the food but you
need to know a little bit about it and it's going
to resonate i'm sure with you estes out there
because we know it in our ingredients but we
forget about it in our plate you know or our
drinks or what we're eating so you know a couple
couple nutrients to go through for healthy glowing
skin so vitamin c that's a big one out there
we know vitamin c is really great for collagen
formation and protection of the skin. So it's
going to help against the oxidized stress in
our cells as well. And we look at our skin as
that aspect, but, you know, eating it is another
way to give it inside our body. So our skin can
take on what it can from products or even we'll
call it the leftovers nutrients in our body.
If there's more to spare, then, you know, the
body's going to disperse it in order of where
it's needed. Right. So that's your citrus fruits,
your berries, bell peppers, like there's so many
things that have vitamin C in it. It doesn't
just have to be your serum per se, even though
that's great, but inside out, right? Vitamin
A aids in that cell turnover and helps to balance
oil production as well. And some easy sources
of vitamin A are your carrots, sweet potatoes,
leafy greens, you know, kale. Yay to the kale.
Just kidding. Most people like ooh kale. They
don't like kale or spinach, but there's other
things you can have right Vitamin E is another
source that to look at provides antioxidant protection
Supports the healing side of things too. So this
is like your almonds Sunflower seeds avocado
now on that side of it. Those are your good fats
Okay, we need that but just because it's good
for you doesn't mean you eat a bag of almonds
Right? There's a certain amount that you eat.
Well, Suzanne was saying on a podcast that you
should eat this. So they're eating tons and tons.
When you're dealing with healthy fats, just be
mindful of the quantity that you're having. So
then you wonder why you're putting on weight.
Yeah. Yeah. Like sunflower seeds, it's a small
serving. Same with almonds, but I know it's hard
to stop sometimes, right? Another form is zinc.
And this one's interesting because it actually
reduces inflammation. and support skin repair.
So your sources are, we're in the fall right
now, pumpkin seeds, legumes, seafood if you like
it, but you can kind of research what's, maybe
you'd look at your own diet and if you're using
apps out there, you can actually look at the
nutrition level, the recommended amount, and
it'll tell you how much you're really having.
So that's another way you could do it or even
recommend to your client. Have you ever considered
like we've been doing everything right? You're
doing this, you know, your skincare right? you're
doing the treatments we're following everything
but there's something else what's going on here
right and stress and nutrition were one of them
but we'll talk more about the nutrition side
i think sleep is always usually a big one too
huge and because if you're not sleeping your
body's stressed right so for sure for sure it's
a repairing time uh incelium is the last one
on the list here and that protects skin from
uv induced damage And sources are Brazilian nuts,
eggs, fish. Again, you can look it up to find
some things. I just want to keep it simple. Of
course, there's tons of vitamins and nourishment
out there, but when you correlate it to skin
care, a lot of this is in our skin care. But
are we eating it too? So those are little things
of what you can do. And it's a small amount.
Like I remember someone introducing avocado to
their life. having a quarter of an avocado every
morning on their toast and it was just this little
bit of nourishment and they realized that their
cravings for sugar lessened as well so when your
body's functioning well and has the nourishment
it needs you will have less of those types of
cravings as well. Okay number two so we kind
of talked about vitamins and minerals number
two is healthy fats. Fats are vital for maintaining
supple and hydrated skin. And everybody, especially
if you're in my age category, it was like the
fat -free world at one point, and it was the
worst thing for us. And they're trying to recalibrate
everybody into realizing, hey, it's actually
not bad for you. So omega -3 fatty acids reduces
inflammation, improves barrier function as well.
Those sources are salmon, chia seeds, walnuts.
there's I mean there's more than that but that's
kind of your top ones that are easy to do out
there. Your monosaturated fats support elasticity
and hydration and sources are olive oil, avocados,
nuts and you want to think about your cold pressed
olive oil. You don't again need much it's a dribble
on maybe on your salad or on your food that type
of thing. It works really well for the skin as
well so again think of the ceramides we're putting
on the skin. It's all fatty, good acids to our,
fatty acids to our skin. So same for our bodies.
And then protein for skin repair. And I think
too, for female side of things, we tend to not
eat enough protein sometimes. So taking a look
at that, I remember the other day, someone told
me, oh yeah, I realized that I wasn't, I'm not
eating any protein. I go. What do you mean by
that? And they're like, I don't last time I really
had something protein. So then she's like, I'm
going to go buy some protein shake. So I remember
she didn't want to just chew. We also think protein
only comes from an animal source, which it doesn't.
So people should consider that. But in her mind,
it was so she had taken a protein drink. And
I said, well, that's better than not having it.
That's for sure. But protein provides the amino
acids necessary for collagen and elastin synthesis,
which we're striving for in our skin. Right?
So keep that in mind. The sources can be lean
meats, tofu, lentils, chickpeas, eggs. You know,
when you think of even like black beans, like
I've done hummus, everyone traditionally usually
does chickpeas, I like to do with black bean
works really well too. So or a combination of
the two just to mix it up. And then for hydration
for skin radiance, can't talk enough about this.
The one thing too is first thing in the morning
if you can little tip is to have a glass of water
If you're not used to drinking water first thing
in the morning You might want to do only half
a glass because you might feel a little upset
your stomach and your first week I just mentioned
to people just do half a glass The second week
go to a full glass and that's first thing when
you wake up It's really important for your body
to have that and they're actually saying even
before you go to bed You should have a glass
of water as well And people think, but then I
have to get up in the middle of the night. It's
like, well, you know, boo hoo you. This is about
your health. There's a lot more, a lot more things
that are going to go wrong for you if you're
dehydrated. So, but adequate water intakes, you
know, helps flush the toxins and maintain that
plump glowing appearance of your skin. Include
water rich foods. So you think of your cucumbers
and oranges and watermelon, but that doesn't
mean the whole watermelon. I know summertime.
I can't. I did it once. It's like, oh my god,
so delicious. I had way too much. I was so bloated.
It was terrible. But, you know, change it up
through your day so you can also get water -rich
foods as well instead of just thinking slugging
water down. Coffee has water in it and that counts.
Coffee does have water in it and you're right.
And then on top of the two cups you're going
to take because of the coffee. That's actually
why I started telling some some folks to have
a have a glass of water before your coffee in
the morning Yeah, it just helps right and it
is liquid for sure But it's just depends on how
strong that coffee is much caffeine is happening
in there But but then there's that whole talk
about caffeine is good for you, too So I yeah,
no, no, and we're just gonna talk about water
Nobody knows they should drink more water, me
included. And brain function. I mean, when you're
dehydrated, it doesn't work very well. Mine needs
all the water it can handle because what's wrong
with me right now? Yes, I personally got into
the habit because I'm busy all day. Like you
said, it's three o 'clock. My God, I had no water
today. I now carry it on me. If I leave the house,
I fill up a water bottle with me and bring it.
I do more than that, but just as a general, if
I'm in and out, then I do that to make sure I
always have a full bottle of water for my drive
home. And my goal is to make sure I drink that
from work on my way home or an appointment anywhere
I'm disappearing to to go for the day or a few
hours. I bring a bottle of water and then I look
at it because it's there. Oh, my God. I didn't
even drink any of it. So I'm chugging it on the
way. But keep in mind, when you drink water and
you drink it too fast, your body will just naturally
take it out and make you go to the bathroom right
away. So you do need to take a half an hour to
an hour to finish like a good size 32 ounce bottle
of water. Those are kind of the average sizes,
right? But keep that in mind. Yeah. So, okay,
let's talk about food. Just some general real
small things of how they can affect your skin
health. So certain foods, we've heard this already
and it's all over social media, triggers inflammation
or disrupts hormone balance as well as a big
one so ladies going through perimenopause, menopause
that type of thing this is coming out even more
now because they're wondering why all of a sudden
they're breaking out right so it can change things
and you become all of a sudden it's like well
god i i was eating that all the time before what's
the problem now it's like your body will finally
say okay i'm done right so it will eventually
say it's over no more of that We hear it and
it sounds sad, but you know the refined sugar
and processed carbs It's it's a big one, and
it's not that you have to eliminate it all I
guess but the less you do the less you have the
better so if you're a person that you know really
has that High processed carb world in your in
your you know on your plate or in your drinks
Refined sugar as well, then maybe start by okay.
What can I cut? Be reasonable about it because
if you go cold turkey, it's really tough It's
tough to do because now you have to start thinking
about another way to eat or drink and that's
not simple So don't stress on it. Just cut it.
Like if you know in the morning you do a quick
Unwrap a bar and eat it Okay, what else could
you do just in the morning? Just focus on your
morning. Yeah, right and that might be the best
small steps. Yeah, definitely and then Try it
out for a little while. You'll get better at
discovering what you like, what you don't like,
what's easy, what's ready. How do I prepare my
day? And then a month or so, whatever you're
ready is okay. Next is okay lunch because I'm
always, you know, ripping open a bag of whatever.
And you know, people say, well, I buy those pre
-made salads and open it up and it's all salad
inside. It's all greens. I go, yes, but the dressing,
you have to look at the dressing now. So that's
all refined sugars and processed stuff galore.
Basically, if you can't pronounce the words,
it's probably not very good for you, right? And
it spikes insulin and worsens acne. So when we
talk about the rise of diabetes right now, even
in our younger, younger, younger people that's
happening. So, but basically on the skin side
of it, that's probably going to worsen the breakouts.
And as I mentioned, the highly processed foods,
definitely linked to premature aging as well,
again, because just there's no nourishment in
it for our bodies, you know. Dairy can be a touchy
subject because some people love it or don't
love it, and I just mention it because, you know,
I grew up with it. I had a glass of milk at every
meal. I had it. It was just how it was. But,
you know, I had some adverse effects that as
I got older, I'm like, oh, that was probably
why. So dairy for me, I have to just limit how
much I have. It's not that it's bad for me, but
too much of it is just not good for me personally.
That's usually one of the things that they'll
eliminate out of your diet if you go see someone
and say, let's knock the milk products out and
see if this helps and a few other things. But
yeah, dairy contributes to hormone acne in some
individuals. So if you're wondering what the
breakouts are, that's what you want to look at.
So if you're breaking out out there and you're
wondering what's different, like here's a few
things that we just captured. And the last one
is alcohol because it is very dehydrating to
the body. And depending on your age and your,
we'll call your genetic makeup of your skin,
it can intensify redness too. So does it bring
out the flushing in your skin? Is it the rosacea
is coming out more, right? Like if you're wondering,
you've been diagnosed by your dermatologist or
medical profession. person that says, well, you've
got rosacea. Well, there are stages to rosacea.
So you got to learn to cut back on things. So
you don't want to get into stage three and four
because that's starts to change your whole, again,
collagen fibers and everything. So, but you know,
it's balance. It doesn't have to be zero, but
it's just balancing. Moderation is key. And just
really seeing, of course, you can still have
your cake as they say, but maybe not every day.
Yeah, you know, that's, you know, there's also
special considerations to, you know, to look
at when it comes to skin conditions is like,
you know, every client is going to be unique.
We're all unique individuals. You know, what
I have and what you have are very different during
sometimes, right? So, but, you know, I learned
from what people tell me is, oh, I can't have
that because it does this to me. I'm like, oh,
really, that's interesting. I wonder what if
it really affects me, I've never noticed or,
you know, things like that. So, you know, but
conditions like acne, rosacea, eczema, hyperpigmentation,
because hyperpigmentation can be hormonal. It's
not always the sun. But it can be tailored differently
for nutrition for these people with professional
guidance, right? Like, I would really encourage
people to reach out to a dietitian and discuss
all these things to see if it will definitely
help you. But like on that note, on, you know,
You're going to advise your clients to always
consult with a health care provider first, not
to change anything, a registered dietitian, because
they're under that umbrella as well. They usually,
a lot of them work with doctors too, or doctors
have access to them, so they can refer you. But
I wouldn't suggest just go out and say, oh, well,
she said to vitamin C, so I'm going to start
taking it. Well, there's maximum amounts you
should take. And then what else are you taking?
Because it can counter. off the other one, like
whatever you have for medications or anything.
So always, always consult with someone is really
important. You know, that's what this is about,
right? When you can give information to people,
it's not that you're the resource to everything,
but you're helping truly your client because
then the healthier they are, the more results
you're going to get. And that's what it comes
down to, right? But, you know, make it simple.
Like, for example, people have probably heard
this eat the rainbow. So The more colors on your
plate, the better for you, higher in antioxidants,
and change it up. You know, I remember we didn't
see it too often for a long time, but carrots
actually weren't, they didn't, did you know that,
fun fact, they didn't, they weren't orange when
they first started having carrots in the world.
That was all modified later. Have you ever seen
the rainbow carrots with the reds and all that,
the yellow and all that? Yeah, that was originally
how they were. And then I don't know why the
industry... I mean, I don't know, I'd have to
look up the research, but a long time ago, I
learned that on a school trip with my kids when
they were really little. Like, oh my God, I had
no idea. What do you mean? And now you can see
it sometimes, right? So that would be eating
the rainbow when you have your carrots, because
they're all different ones. Snacks are really
good. So maybe think of smart snacking. You know,
like we talked about the seeds and nuts, some
fresh fruits, good. Over your rip open a package
to eat something quickly. and I get it I've done
it too it's like oh my god I need to have this
stuff but if it's not in my cupboard I can't
have it and stay hydrated right aim for that
consistent water intake and an easy one too is
like I mean it's so unique now that you can find
these little USB chargeable little blenders right
so you could package everything and make yourself
a quick smoothie so you're getting everything
you're getting your berries you're getting your
your maybe your flax seed or chia your antioxidants,
your protein like you can do a lot in the smoothie.
Not everyone likes the smoothie but you know
I spun it into a pudding idea when you put chia
seeds in it it'll actually form more into a pudding
so I've done that where I get bored of smoothies
and I say oh I'll just drink half of it and the
other half I'm gonna make and have it for tomorrow
or something into a pudding so I feel like it's
you know blueberry dessert or something so with
my chocolate protein drink. But you know it I
think for the beauty pros out there whether it's
personal like we said we did an episode on this
You might be going through changes and that's
just part of life that happens to all of us But
maybe dive into more or with your clients I think
you know integrating integrating that nutritional
awareness is something we just don't think about
and Like you don't have to be the pro in this
but knowing about it and what to do about it
Just helps your clients even more and yourself
But I mean, this doesn't happen overnight, right?
So we have to take time. It's small, little steps,
wins all the time for, you know, that long term
effect. But if we think balancing diet, professional
skincare, proper hydration, those can all help
the skin in the end. So I think you'll thrive
in the end for that over time. But, you know,
as I mentioned, please, please make sure that,
you know, you're advising them to see a professional.
this even when they come and talk to it I've
had people talk to me about it and said oh I
learned that Moringa is very good for me and
you know they talk about this and it's okay but
you know you take medication too so you take
other supplements have you consulted with anyone
to make sure you're taking the right amount and
some things you don't take at the same time like
for example yeah my mom takes a blood pressure
pill has for forever and ever and it was only
this year by I don't even know how I came across
it that you shouldn't have a banana with it because
it interferes with the absorption of the pill
while the digesting guess what my mother has
had with her pills for like 30 years a banana
and this was just last year when I came across
this I'm like no this so it's just interesting
information right and they're learning they're
always learning that's true yeah That's true.
If you have any tips or tried something that's
worked, let us know. Thanks for listening to
Beauty Babble.